Don Barden's House is For Sale.

**D_Town** · November-05-13, 09:22 AM

http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...15-31631?row=4

Can't believe its only going for $500,000

**401don** · November-05-13, 09:29 AM

My 1280 sq. ft. semi in a Toronto suburb lists for 489k. Maybe I should trade?

**artds** · November-05-13, 09:47 AM

Very cool house! Here's the Bird's Eye view on Bing

http://binged.it/1dKzQHO

**Hermod** · November-05-13, 10:17 AM

There are places in this country where such a house would be $8 million.

**abraham** · November-05-13, 10:18 AM

Whos don barden?

**DetroitPlanner** · November-05-13, 11:00 AM

Originally Posted by abraham

Whos don barden?

Are you kidding???

Two things about the realtor ad: No interior shots makes me believe that either the inside is in bad shape or this is a HUD house.

It is being sold for 250 percent of the assessed value. Taxes are currently about $12k.

**56packman** · November-05-13, 11:25 AM

I was in that house in 1981 when it belonged to William Stone, husband of Detroit News fashion editor Tavvy Stone. The house is one big Hollywood set, it is all front, it isn't very deep. I can't imagine the utility bills.

**Hamtragedy** · November-05-13, 12:33 PM

Guess the kids couldn't sort any part of that mess out.

But, man, if I had 500K sittin' around!!!!! That was my favorite & smoothest rollerblade track in town, with zero traffic. I would live on Fairway in a heartbeat, especially since it's fenced off at McNichols.

**artds** · November-05-13, 01:43 PM

Originally Posted by Hermod

There are places in this country where such a house would be $8 million.

There are also places in this country where your neighbors aren't murdering each other in record numbers and the school system actually functions like one.

**courtney** · November-05-13, 02:41 PM

Interior pictures can be seen at http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/18...88732475_zpid/ .

It needs updating [[I think that bright blue carpet made me queasy and if the picture of the "kitchen" is the only kitchen in the house, just, wow), but it's certainly livable.

**DetroitPlanner** · November-05-13, 03:30 PM

Originally Posted by courtney

Interior pictures can be seen at http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/18...88732475_zpid/ .

It needs updating [[I think that bright blue carpet made me queasy and if the picture of the "kitchen" is the only kitchen in the house, just, wow), but it's certainly livable.

I was thinking the same thing about the kitchen. Not much of a kitchen for a home of that size, though I have seen some Indian Village homes with the original kitchens that have surprised me with how primitive they are. I like the bathroom covered in mirrors myself. Yeah like I want to see myself when I am grunting one out!

**Gistok** · November-05-13, 03:42 PM

Originally Posted by artds

There are also places in this country where your neighbors aren't murdering each other in record numbers and the school system actually functions like one.

Not exactly one of your more intelligent posts on this forum [[for a lawyer).... when do people in exclusive neighborhoods go to public schools?? And don't tell me that murders don't occur in Beverly Hills, Bel-Air or Brentwood?

**Maof** · November-05-13, 03:43 PM

guess we missed the estate sale....
http://www.estatesales.net/estate-sa...t/48221/525234

**pkbroch** · November-05-13, 03:58 PM

The kitchen in the photo is in the servants quarters over the three car garage. The condition of the marble on the floors looks great.

I also was inside the home when Bill Stone owned it.

**Bham1982** · November-05-13, 04:22 PM

Originally Posted by Gistok

Not exactly one of your more intelligent posts on this forum [[for a lawyer).... when do people in exclusive neighborhoods go to public schools?? And don't tell me that murders don't occur in Beverly Hills, Bel-Air or Brentwood?

I'm pretty sure he was referring to the relative incidence of murders; not whether a murder has ever occured. Obviously Zurich and Kabul both have murders, but I assume one is much more dangerous than the other.

And relative quality of public schools is very important for property values. 500k is a "normal" price in certain suburban school districts, and you can bet that buyers of 500k homes are usually looking at public, not private options.

And even in the most expensive neighborhoods, relative public school quality is extremely important. On the Upper East Side of Manhattan, PS6 is an extremely desirable district, and fancy apartments on one side of the street will cost much more than equally fancy apartments on the other side of the street, strictly because the former are in PS6 boundaries.

Locally, there's a portion of Bloomfield Township in Pontiac School District, and the [[beautiful, lakefront) homes are half the price of equivalent homes in Bloomfield Schools.

**carolcb** · November-05-13, 04:35 PM

Nice house! Love that bathroom, really I do.

**courtney** · November-05-13, 05:36 PM

Originally Posted by pkbroch

The kitchen in the photo is in the servants quarters over the three car garage. The condition of the marble on the floors looks great.

I also was inside the home when Bill Stone owned it.

I'm actually quite pleased to find out that what I hoped was a second/servants kitchen is.

That being said, I wonder how bad the main kitchen is? It must be a 1970s/1980s "modernized" nightmare, because vintage kitchens are actually far more loved and would likely be more of a positive in a house of that era rather than a negative.

Of course, I'm not counting on a real estate agent who writes a bad description in all caps and has some really poor quality images to really know that.

I must not be cut out for "old mansion" living - the amount I'd wanted changed to de-tacky it would be far more costly than the house itself. Same thing for all of the houses I see listed on the lake in GP. I love them from the outside, but inside, they are just a mess. Give me a far more simple, tasteful Craftsman style house any day over huge, gaudy interiors.

**mark.vandorn** · November-05-13, 06:21 PM

$500k for:
- need to send kids to private schools 30 minutes away @ $10k+ each/year
- 30 minute drives every time kids want to hang out with friends, soccer practice, etc.
- dodge murderers and burglars
- annual expenses that costs multiple times a newer home
- sky high insurance
- spend $250k easily to make home livable/modernized
- 30 minute drives to dinners after you get tired of the 2 or 3 restaurants worth visiting in Detroit and/or because none of your friends will meet you in the city

What a steal!

**jackie5275** · November-05-13, 07:03 PM

Originally Posted by Maof

guess we missed the estate sale....
http://www.estatesales.net/estate-sa...t/48221/525234

Too much brass & glass, stuff looks late 80s/early 90s.

**p69rrh51** · November-05-13, 07:53 PM

Designed by John W. Case for Eureka Vacuum Cleaner founder Fred Wardell. 18240 Fairway built in 1926 Detroit Golf Club Detroit, MI. Includes an image of the home from a 1926 issue of Michigan Architect and Engineer.

**p69rrh51** · November-05-13, 07:58 PM

Two images of the interior from a 1926 issue of Michigan Architect and Engineer.

**Bham1982** · November-05-13, 08:28 PM

Originally Posted by mark.vandorn

$500k for:
- need to send kids to private schools 30 minutes away @ $10k+ each/year

And that's only for Catholic school. Cranbrook charges 30k for high school grades; Country Day just slightly less.

**Zacha341** · November-05-13, 09:07 PM

That's got to be a secondary maid quarters kitchen. The main kitchen must have problems though since it was not shown.... DTE bill must be at least a grand a month!

Originally Posted by courtney

Interior pictures can be seen at http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/18...88732475_zpid/ .

It needs updating [[I think that bright blue carpet made me queasy and if the picture of the "kitchen" is the only kitchen in the house, just, wow), but it's certainly livable.

**DetroitPlanner** · November-05-13, 11:41 PM

Originally Posted by Bham1982

And that's only for Catholic school. Cranbrook charges 30k for high school grades; Country Day just slightly less.

Actually U of D High and Gesu are only a few blocks away.

**Hamtragedy** · November-06-13, 12:00 AM

I spy

four original bathrooms,

two ultra-rare Crane Nova sinks with glass legs [[Trenton Pottery Co), although looks like one of them has been outfitted with 1950s Standard Aqua-seal faucet handles.....

Chicago Faucet barrel drain in one of the bathrooms is bad-ass.

One iridescent pink bathroom [[that tile is still my favorite & it's all over that neighborhood...University District)